My commiserations. I'm sure you're better off out of there though. On a more practical note, Linked In seems to be one of the more effective methods of finding a new gig - I haven't used to find a job myself, but a few friends of mine have, and claim it works fairly well.

This conversation has been coming up quite often in my local region. The auto industry is not doing well, as everyone knows, and its really starting to hurt some people. Fortunately, you are not in Detroit or tied to the auto industry, so I'm sure you'll have no problems.

A guy I work with (as of this week) was fired from what he thought was a great job after only six months - and two months after getting married. He ended up getting three offers and is now in a long-time dream job. And pleased as punch.

Brad: This happened to me about 5 months ago. To echo Jill and Globe's sentiment, it turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. By federal law I believe they have to pay your vacation time. Maybe your personnel people will be dumbasses like the company who bought mine. They sent a 9 week agreement instead of a 4...